Saturday, February 19, 2011

Post #119

Excerpt from the New York Times: Chilean Priest Found Guilty of Abusing Minors

February 18, 2011

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — After an internal investigation, the Vatican found the Rev. Fernando Karadima guilty of sexually abusing minors in Chile and ordered him to retire to a “life of prayer and penitence,” the archbishop of Santiago said Friday. The ruling, announced by the archbishop, Ricardo Ezzati, said that Rev. Karadima, 80, would be relocated to a place where he would have no contact with his former parishioners or “persons that have been spiritually guided by him.”

The accusations by former parishioners against Rev. Karadima last year stunned Chile, a conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic nation unaccustomed to questioning its priests, especially one as revered as Rev. Karadima. He had trained five bishops and dozens of priests, acting as a spiritual leader and father figure for young men who later accused him of molesting them.

The decision is a rare case of a powerful church figure being called to account for the charges of sexual abuse that have swept the Catholic world the past few years. The Vatican decision “is going to mark a before and after in the way the Chilean Catholic Church proceeds in cases like these, or at least it should,” said Rev. Antonio Delfau, a Jesuit priest in Santiago, the capital. “From now on, every case of sexual abuse must be treated with meticulous care and not be based on the gut feeling of a given church official.”

For the accusers, including at least four men who said Rev. Karadima abused them when they were young parishioners, the decision was a long-awaited vindication. One original accuser said the abuse began when he was 14. “At last the truth was revealed and acknowledged,” said an emotional Juan Carlos Cruz, 47. “This was like having a Rev. who abused you and a mother who slapped you in the face,” he said of the Catholic Church. “Now I feel like this mother has taken me in.”

Rev. Karadima has not been prosecuted criminally. A judge investigating the accusations against him closed the case late last year, ruling that there was not enough evidence to charge him. An appeals court in Santiago is still deciding whether to reopen the criminal investigation. It remains unclear whether the Vatican’s decision will prod the Chilean authorities to do so.

The Vatican ruling announced Friday said that Rev. Karadima was subject to “lifelong prohibition from the public exercise of any ministerial act, particularly confession and the spiritual guidance of any category of persons.” In consideration of his age, the Vatican deemed it appropriate “to impose on the accused his retirement to a life of prayer and penitence, also in reparation to the victims of his abuses,” said the ruling, read by Archbishop Ezzati. If he violates the conditions of the ruling, Rev. Karadima could face stricter sanctions, including removal from the priesthood, the archbishop said.

Juan Pablo Bulnes, Rev. Karadima’s lawyer, said the priest maintained his innocence and would appeal the Vatican’s decision. He said the priest, respecting the ruling, had already retired to a religious convent in Santiago, away from anyone in his El Bosque parish. The Chilean Catholic Church referred the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last June, sending a 700-page investigative report to the Vatican. Last month, the Vatican quietly issued its ruling and informed the Chilean church on Jan. 16. Archbishop Ezzati said he notified Rev. Karadima the next day and immediately identified a new residence for him.

Sources include
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/world/americas/19chile.html
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Karadima
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bezza.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/world/americas/28chile.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/world/americas/23chile.html?pagewanted=2
http://historiactiva.jesuitas.cl/entrevista_13/opinion.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/world/americas/26chile.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Chile
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/world/americas/21karadima.html
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_pro_14071997_en.html

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Post #118

Excerpt from Catholic News Service: Visitator to report that Irish church is near collapse

DUBLIN (CNS) -- Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley reportedly will tell Pope Benedict XVI that the Catholic Church in Ireland is "on the edge" of collapse due to the fallout from clerical abuse scandals.

Cardinal O'Malley is one of several senior prelates charged by Pope Benedict with carrying out an apostolic visitation of the Irish Catholic Church following a series of highly critical judicial reports that revealed abuse by priests and a widespread culture of cover-up for decades among church leaders.

Father Tony Flannery, a leading member of the Association of Catholic Priests, revealed at a conference of laypeople Feb. 12 in the Irish capital that "Cardinal O'Malley told the association the Irish Church had a decade, at most, to avoid falling over the edge and becoming like other European countries where religion is marginal to society." Father Flannery said Cardinal O'Malley gave a commitment to the priests' association that he would deliver the frank assessment to the pope in a confidential report to be submitted later this year. Admitting to being previously skeptical about the apostolic visitation, Father Flannery said that in light of Cardinal O'Malley's undertaking, "there may be some gleam of hope."

In a mid-November statement, the Vatican said it would issue a comprehensive summary of the investigations' findings when they are completed.

Father Flannery said that while the association was ready to campaign for radical change, it was apprehensive that it would be viewed as "a new clericalism."  The association, which represents more than 400 of Ireland's 4,500 priests, was formed in 2010. It has proposed a re-evaluation of the church's teaching on sexuality and the inclusion of women at every level within the church. The first phase of the visitation should be completed by Easter, and it is likely the visitators will meet with senior officials of the Roman Curia in the spring to discuss what Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, described as the next phase of the "path to renewal."

Sources include
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1100608.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n_Patrick_O'Malley
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/category/visitation-of-the-irish-church/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_visitation_to_Ireland
http://www.eskercommunity.org/tonyflannery.html
http://www.associationofcatholicpriests.ie/

Monday, February 7, 2011

Post #117

Excerpt from the Essex Chronicle:  Roman Catholic switch is considered by seven Anglican priests in England

At least seven priests are poised to leave the Anglican Diocese of Chelmsford to become Roman Catholics, along with hundreds of members of their congregations.

Rev. Ivor Morris, of the Ascension Church in Maltese Road, Chelmsford, is one of the first rebel Anglo-Catholics from across the Chelmsford Diocese to speak publicly about the controversial switch, reported to be the largest movement of its kind.

Rev. Morris, who last year marked 25 years of ordination, has told his congregation that he is considering leaving to join the Ordinariate, which was set up by the Pope to welcome disaffected Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church.

Rev. Morris said those who joined the Ordinariate would be reunited with Catholic Christendom, but not be completely absorbed, maintaining an Anglican cultural ethos.

The switch stems from the Anglican priests' objections to the ordination of women priests, which they say is against scripture and tradition.

The seven priests – three married, one widowed and three single priests – come from parishes across the Chelmsford Diocese, which includes most of the county and east London.

Meanwhile, more than 30 parish churches in the Chelmsford Diocese have also signed up to Forward in Faith, a worldwide movement opposing the ordination of women, including parish churches in Cressing, Great Bardfield, Finchingfield, Thaxted and Kelvedon.

Another priest to speak openly about the switch is former Brentwood vicar Canon Bob White, who is now honorary assistant priest at St Peter and St Paul in Hockley.

"The General Synod over some years has made decisions that appear to be taking the Church of England away from the Catholic direction once held and because of that I feel unity with the Roman Catholic Church is not possible," he said.

"An offer has been made by the Pope and we have taken up that offer."

The controversial women bishops move has split the Church of England and it is believed more will follow the "pioneers" like Rev. Ivor and Mr White.

Chelmsford's Anglican Bishop Stephen Cottrell said in an open letter that it "pained" him that no agreement could be reached to allow Anglo Catholic priests to remain.

Bishop Cottrell and Brentwood's Catholic Bishop Thomas McMahon also issued a joint statement stating they were "painfully aware" of the divisions.

"We pray for the new life they will have and the gifts they will bring to the Catholic Church."

Sources include
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/news/Papal-switch-considered-seven-priests/article-3168572-detail/article.html
http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/chelmsford-ascension/
http://www.forwardinfaith.com/
http://www.womenpriests.org/
http://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/introducing-bishop-stephen.html

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Post #116

Excerpt from AsiaNews: Benedict XVI ordains five new bishops

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "It is time for the mission," this is the mandate of Benedict XVI, entrusted now to five new bishops ordained in St Peter’s basilica this morning. A mission that brings to men “the light of truth that frees them from poverty of truth, which is real sadness and real poverty. Mission that brings them the Good News that is not only words, but an event: God, Himself, has come from us. "

Receiving the Gospel, ring, mitre and pastoral cross, signs of the Episcopal mission from the Pope this morning were; Mgr. Savio Hon Tai-Fai, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Mgr. Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Mgr. Celso Morga Iruzubieta, secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, Mgr. Antonio Guido Filipazzi, Apostolic Nuncio, and Mgr. Edgar Peña Parra, who is also an apostolic nuncio.

Their mission is to "cast the net of the Gospel in the rough seas of this time to obtain the adhesion of people to Christ" because "it may seem that large parts of the modern world, of the men of today, are turning away from God and consider faith a thing of the past – and yet there is still a yearning for justice, love, peace, to be finally established and poverty and suffering overcome, that people find joy. All this yearning is present in today's world, a yearning for all that is great, for all that is good. It is nostalgia for the Redeemer, God himself, even where he is denied. "

It is a 'great task', which in practical terms requires the four elements that have already been the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the memory of how the early Christians "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer"(Acts 2:42). They are "the fundamental elements of Christian communion in the Church of Jesus Christ," Benedict XVI traced his homily from the phrase” and they devoted themselves”. “Devotion, diligence, belongs to the essence of being a Christian and is fundamental to the pastors task as workers in the Lord's harvest. The Pastor should not be like chaff driven by the wind, a servant of the spirit of the time. Being intrepid, having the courage to oppose the trends of the time, is essential to the task of the pastor. He must not be chaff, but - according to the image of the first Psalm - he must be like a tree that has deep roots, upon which it is solid and well grounded. This has nothing to do with the rigidity or inflexibility. Only where there is stability is there also growth. Cardinal Newman, whose path was marked by three conversions, says that living means transforming oneself. But his three conversions and the transformations that took place in them are, however, one consistent journey: the journey of obedience to the truth, to God, the true journey of continuity which in this way brings about progress".

"Perseverance to the teaching of the Apostles", then, means to remember that "faith has a concrete content. Spirituality is not a vague, indefinable feeling for transcendence. God has acted and He truly spoke. He has really done something and he actually said something. Certainly, faith is, at first, trusting in God, a living relationship with God But the God in whom we place our trust has a face and gave us His word. We can count on the stability of His word. "

The second “pillar of the life of the Church” is communion. "Communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-4). God made himself visible and tangible for us and so has created a real communion with himself. We enter into communion through this belief and live together with those whom have been touched by Him. With them and through, we to in a certain way, see and touch the God who became close for us. Thus the horizontal and vertical are here inextricably intertwined with each other. By being in communion with the Apostles, by standing with them in faith, we ourselves are in contact with the living God.

Dear friends, the purpose of the ministry of Bishops is that this chain of communion is not interrupted. This is the essence of apostolic succession: to preserve communion with those who have met the Lord in a visible and tangible way, and so keep Heaven open, God's presence among us. Only through communion with the Successors of the Apostles are we also in contact with the incarnate God. But the reverse is also true: only through communion with God, only through communion with Jesus Christ this chain of witnesses, stays together. One is never a Bishops on his won, says Vatican II, but always only in the College of Bishops. Therefore he cannot lock himself up in the time of his generation. The intertwining of all generations, the living Church of every age belongs to collegiality. You dear Brothers - he continued, turning to the soon to be ordained – have the mission of preserving this Catholic communion. You know that the Lord has appointed St. Peter and his successors to be the centre of that community, the guarantors of being in the totality of apostolic communion and His faith. Offer your help so the joy of the great unity of the Church, the communion of all the places and times, so the community of faith that embraces the heavens and the earth remains alive".

Third "fundamental element of the Church's" is the breaking of bread. "The Holy Eucharist is the centre of the Church must be the centre of our being Christians and our priestly life." "Breaking bread - along with what is also expressed in sharing, transmitting our love with others. The social dimension, sharing is not a moral appendix which is added an to the Eucharist, rather it is part of it. This is clear from his verse in Acts which follows the one quoted above: "... All the believers had everything in common," says Luke (2:44). We must be careful that faith is always expressed in love and justice of one towards another and that our social practice is inspired by faith, that faith is lived in love. "

"The last pillar of the Church's, is prayer. "Prayer, on the one hand, must be very personal, a joining of my deepest self with God. It must be my battle with Him, my search for Him, my thanks to Him and my joy in Him. However, it is never simply a private matter of my "individual self”, which does not affect others. Praying is always essentially also praying in the "we" of God's children. Only in this "we" are we the children of our Father, which the Lord has taught us to pray. Only this "we" gives us access to the Father. On the one hand, our prayer must become more personal touch and penetrate more deeply the core of our self. On the other, we must always be fed by prayerful communion, unity of the Body of Christ, to truly shape myself beginning with love of God. Thus praying, ultimately, is not one activity among others, a certain corner of my time. Praying is the answer to the imperative that is at the beginning of the Canon in the Eucharistic celebration: Sursum corda - Lift up your hearts! It is the ascending of my existence on high to God. "

"In this regard, St. Gregory the Great points out that John the Baptist called Jesus a "burning and shining lamp" (Jn 5:35) and he continues: by saying that "ardent with Celestial desire, resplendent with the word. So that the veracity of the proclamation be preserved, the height of life must be preserved”. The height, the high standard of life, which today is so essential to witness in favour of Jesus Christ, we can find it in prayer only when we allow ourselves to be constantly pulled by Him toward His height. "

Sources include
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pope-tells-new-bishops-its-time-for-mission,-because-even-today-the-world-seeks-God-20699.html#
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCX67Y07yU3-Fri0rlOh6KePHZsIQcolHZEQ6kzO9GHCcynAaYBAaWN8kGfu7ehv02oX1pzIcM6_IldV7RyHbgpJtkalDhrSrGD4ORB3LvDX69s3IAYUTg_RFiqBwVI-bpONgC4MOxUeWm/s1600/b16bor2.jpg
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bhontf.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bbartolum.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmorgai.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfilipaz.html
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpenaper.html

Post #115

Halifax Archbishop says behaviour of priests accused of assault "immoral and shameful"

Yet another Roman Catholic diocese, this time the Diocese of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse by priests. There have been ongoing meditation efforts in an attempt to keep the matter out of the courts and settled privately. The Yarmouth diocese has agreed to pay $1.5 million, to be divided among six victims who were sexually abused by priests Adolphe LeBlanc and Eddie Theriault. The abuse took place in the 1950s and 1960s and the victims were between the ages of three and 16 at the time. Both men are now dead.

It means that, yet again, Catholic parishioners are being forced to pay for the sins of their former priests in what many learned observers call an unfair process. In a letter to the people of the Yarmouth diocese on January 24, 2011, Halifax Archbishop Anthony Mancini, who is the Pope-appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Yarmouth diocese attempts to explain why the people have to pay for the sins of their priests. It’s up to each reader to decide for him/herself if Mancini succeeds in making the case in his letter reprinted below. Your comments are welcome.

-------------------------------------------
Diocese de/of Yarmouth
43, Rue Albert St., Yarmouth, N.-É./N.S. B5A 3N1
January 24, 2011


To all the faithful of the Catholic Church of Yarmouth,

Greetings and best wishes to you, as we enter into a new year with all the challenges which it will bring.

I write to you to share with you my concern for our faith and for the future of our community of faith. My hope is that together, we will be able to face with strength the obstacles which could cause us to be discouraged. To support us in our trial, we must draw on the example of our ancestors in the faith, who were able to face adversity and overcome great obstacles with great heart.

“... the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” (Acts 4:32)

I am calling on this same faith of the Church of Yarmouth, to see us through to better days because our faith, when it is based on the Church’s one foundation, Jesus Christ, can withstand many hardships.

I say this because for some time now, we have been struggling with the impact of sexual abuse on the lives of victims, and on the life of the community. Many have been and continue to be shocked and shamed by the behaviour of some priests. The behaviour of these priests and their failures are criminal, immoral and shameful. There is no excuse for it and there is not much that can be done to change what has happened.

What we can do and must do is try to right the wrongs and make financial settlements as best we can with those who have suffered the effects of sexual abuse. This is what we are trying to do through the process of legal mediations in which we have entered and about which you have heard in the media.

So far this process has proven to be very difficult, yet successful in arriving at what the concerned parties negotiated and freely accepted as compensation. Whether or not this process and its outcome is ultimately viewed as fair, just and proper, only time will tell.

Nevertheless, to have settled a significant number of cases is a relief for everyone even if all the cases are not yet resolved. It is my sincere hope that the outstanding cases can be also thus decided and allow all concerned to move on, the victims with their lives and the whole Church with the purpose and mission for which we exist - which is forgiveness, reconciliation and new life after darkness and death. This will require time for healing and lots of prayer.

Legal settlements of course cost money, money which all of you have generously contributed for the upkeep of our church and the gospel which is ours to proclaim. No one feels good about having to pay out settlements – yet that is the cost for the sins of our past. I wish it were otherwise, but the structure we have and the legal systems with which we must function must be respected and followed so that our legal obligations to victims of abuse can be met.

This means that as a church, we will be stretched to the limits of our capacity to pay out settlements. We hope to survive, poorer yes, but alive nevertheless. No doubt it will be necessary to find alternative ways of financing the next few years and we have competent persons who are generously giving their time and talent to help us through this present state of affairs.

Let me reassure you, that I am doing all I can with the collaboration of all the diocesan staff of the Yarmouth Diocese to steer our church through this stormy period and I count on all of you who are of good will and resolved to stay the course with us.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be discussing with you, your pastors and with those in diocesan leadership, how we can best go forward. If we need to make sacrifices and we will, let us do so with conviction and courage. The church is much more than its failures. It is an assembly of saints as well as sinners and we must not let ourselves be defined solely by sins of sexual abuse. Surely our sins must be faced clearly, confessed truthfully and whatever can be done to amend our behaviour and practices must be done. From our penance and purification will come the re-foundation of our church.

May the Lord stand with us as we face our future and may we go forward in the spirit of our fathers and mothers in the faith as reported in the Acts of the Apostles (2: 42-47) where we are told that they remained faithful to the teachings of the Apostles; faithful to the fellowship of their community by looking after each other; faithful to the breaking of the bread and faithful to the prayers.

Sincerely,
†Anthony Mancini
Apostolic Administrator of Yarmouth

Sources include
http://www.dioceseyarmouth.org/pdf/20110124.pdf
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/archbishop-says-behaviour-of-priests-accused-of-assault-immoral-and-shameful-115187334.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/01/31/ns-mancini-letter.html
http://www.dioceseyarmouth.org/
http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmancini.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Administrator